Last Chance
by alt230
Summary: Grovyle and Celebi share a moment before going back in time. --Explorers of Time oneshot, Grovyle/Celebi.


When Grovyle and Celebi met for what they thought was the last time, it was night.

Of course, it was always night.

Nothing moved; nothing lived. The wind stood perpetually still. The grass was stiff under his feet, frozen in place. He and Celebi stood quietly together, heavy things in their hearts. Neither one faced the other.

She broke the silence at last. "Where's your partner?"

Grovyle stared out into the trees. "He's coming. He's throwing off Dusknoir and his Sableye drones, then doubling back here."

Celebi grimaced. "There's no point. Dialga will know where we are the moment he detects my portal."

Grovyle's sigh shuddered. "We'll need as much of a headstart as possible. Dialga won't leave theTower, and the further we draw out Dusknoir, the longer it'll take him to figure out we're gone and get back to Dialga."

"And the longer it'll take Dialga to send Dusknoir after you," Celebi added quietly.

Grovyle grit his jaw.

"They'll hate me," he whispered. "For stealing theirTime Gears."

Celebi whipped to face him. "But you have to." Her tiny hands found Grovyle's thick, calloused claws and squeezed them. He took her hands in his own. She trembled. Grovyle turned to face her and saw the tears threatening to spill. His heart fluttered.

"Look at this forest," she moaned, "It's flows neither here nor anywhere. Nothing moves." She fluttered close to him, her small wings' faint hum the only sound amongst the gray stillness. Her voice turned hoarse. "We never see the sun."

He stared at her drooping head, at her minute hands, still encased in his own. With trepidation he let go. Nervously, he drew her tiny body in an embrace. At first she tensed at his touch, and Grovyle's heart skipped a beat when he felt her relax. Nuzzling her softly-feathered head, he grinned sadly. "Never thought I'd see you so serious," he murmurmed, his voice thick.

There was an unbearable silence, a pause where they froze like their surroundings. Celebi shook when she finally moved, wrapping her delicate arms around his neck. She fit her head close to the curve of his jaw and whispered, very quietly, "You're leaving."

Grovyle felt dizzy. Suddenly daring, he hugged her tightly to her body, heard her gasp. "Maybe," he began, voice thick, "if we can fix the Temporal Tower... Maybe we'll see each other in another timeline. Maybe then we could be... something... more."

"Grovyle?"

Her voice shook. She pulled away to look up into his face.

"Celebi, I --"

A crashing sound in the forest interrupted them. Grovyle whipped away, his body tense for a fight, his face distraught.

Relief washed over him as a human stumbled into their midst. The guy leaned over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. "I ditched Dusknoir about a mile from here," he panted, "Him and those rotten Sableye."

"Partner!" Grovyle cried, a warmth in his chest.

The human straightened and breathed deep. His eyes caught Grovyle and Celebi in their awkward, too-close-to-the-other stances and he lifted a brow. "Did I interrupt something...?"

Celebi and Grovyle jerked away as if shocked. "No!" the both of them cried.

Grovyle's partner made a face. "Right..." His relaxed attitude quickly vanished, though. "Look," he said, voice low, "We need to get going now. I'm pretty sure I wasn't followed, but you know how those Sableye can be."

Grovyle nodded, solemn. "Celebi?"

She jerked out of a small reverie. "Of course." She fluttered above their heads, her eyes and antennae glowing. She held out her arm and then, painfully bright, their ticket to the past appeared - a swirling vortex of time. It glowed, brighter than Grovyle was used to in a world of perpetual night.

Grovyle and his partner approached the portal's entrance, but as the human stared straight ahead, Grovyle cast his gaze over his shoulder, taking his last mental snapshot of the pink Celebi.

He mouthed three words at her.

Big fat tears slid down her cheeks, and she mouthed four more back at him.

Something in Grovyle's chest twisted painfully.

Resolutely he faced the portal. The human and Pokémon, hand in claw, stepped into the light.

The world dropped out from under their feet, suddenly, dizzingly. Colors, colors Grovyle had no name for, flashed by them as Grovyle and his partner fell straight down. The breath sucked out of their chests, they couldn't scream. Terror gripped at Grovyle's bones and he crushed the hand in his grip, his heart beating fast, too fast, he --

There was a horrifying shattering sound, and everything went dark. Deep in their chests Dialga's furious scream reverberated through their very beings, choking them,

ther were things Grovyle had no name for, thunder, lightning, icy rain biting at Grovyle's face, wind buffeted him and he sucked in air and howled, clawing at his face lightning flashed too close and the thunder was beyond deafening he saw his partner's face illuminated for only a second raw terror on his face, the winds threatened to tear them apart

"Hold on!" Grovyle roared, "Don't let go!"

but the human went suddenly, horribly, terribly limp and slipped out of his

"NO!"

grasp and the storm whisked him away

Grovyle opened his mouth to scream, but something out of the blackness cracked against his skull

and he fell,

fell,

fell.

He landed in a forest.

Grovyle was blinded as soon he opened his eyes again. He cried out and quickly shielded his face. He struggled to a sitting position, propping himself up with his other arm, the grass bending underneath his --

Grovyle froze.

He heard a brook babble somewhere in the distance.

Something crushed his chest like a sledgehammer. Tears sprang to his eyes.

He dropped the arm shielding his face and looked straight up at the source of the blinding light,

the sun.

And he wept.


End file.
